Breaking the Stereotypes
by LSupergirl
Summary: Alternate Universe. S/S. The evolution of a friendship, and its repercussions.
1. It Was the Best of Times, It Was the Wor...

Explanation: If our favorite group of profoundly dysfunctional adolescents were just a group of slightly dysfunctional adolescents, what would be different? This is assuming, of course, that they all happen to go to the same high school. This explores how the relationships of our heroes would be different if they weren't forced to get to know each other in a place like Horizon, and instead had to live by the code of All High Schools Everywhere: AKA cliques and other stereotypes. This takes place during their senior year, and will mainly focus on the developing relationship of Scott and Shelby. 

Disclaimer: To FFC or ABC Family Channel or whatever the heck you're calling yourself these days: SOOKIT! SOOK. IT. 

*** 

Breaking the Stereotypes 

Chapter 1: It Was The Best Of Times, It Was The Worst Of Times... 

Shelby Merrick hurried up the concrete stairs leading to the main entrance of her high school. She cursed as she tripped over the top step. Her books flew out of her hands as she grabbed on to the metal railing. She scrambled around the ground and shoved the loose papers back into her binder. She glanced at her watch. Crap! She was almost ten minutes late for homeroom again. She resisted the urge to scream at the sky until it came crashing down on top of her. Instead, she blew a wisp of hair off of her forehead and started to jog toward the main entrance. 

She was having a miserable morning. It had started yesterday, when she had worked a double shift at the diner after school. She hadn't gotten home until after ten. Then, she had stayed up doing homework until she had finally conked out in the middle of finishing her physics lab report. By some stroke of luck she hadn't overslept this morning, but her little sister, Jess, had. Shelby had to make sure her sister was ready for her ride to school before she could leave for school herself. And to top it all off, her mother hadn't bought more coffee, so she was desperately missing her morning caffeine fix. 

She yanked the heavy glass door open and immediately headed to the Attendance Office for a late pass. 

"I'm sorry Shelby," said Mrs. Bauer, her favorite office attendant. "This is your fifth late this semester, so you'll have to serve a detention this afternoon." 

Shelby sighed and swallowed her protest that it was her afternoon off from work. Instead she nodded and accepted the pink slip of paper. 

"Did you have to work late again yesterday?" Mrs. Bauer inquired. 

Shelby nodded. "My mom is home sick from work, so I've been working doubles after school to make up for it. I have to go now, thanks Mrs. Bauer!" She ran out of the door before the pretty red haired woman could say another word. 

The soles of her shoes squeaked and echoed in the empty hallway. She had missed the morning announcements and was going to miss homeroom completely if she didn't hurry up. What a way to start the day. 

Finally, she reached her homeroom. She was tired and out of breath from all her running around. She handed her pass to the teacher, murmuring a soft apology, and then walked to her seat. 

"What's the matter, Shelby? Late night last night?" 

She stopped in her tracks to address the speaker. It was one of the idiotic football jocks. He was leering at her suggestively as his eyes roamed over her body. 

"Bite me," she said through clenched teeth as she glared at him. 

"Is that an invitation?" he asked with a smug grin. 

"Brett, chill," Scott Barringer said under his breath. He would have liked nothing more than to watch Merrick beat the crap out of Brett, but they needed him for the big game that weekend. Luckily, Brett heard him and backed off. With one last appraising glance at Shelby, he turned back to the brunette he had been flirting with. 

Shelby stomped to her seat. She really hated football players. They were big and stupid, and thought that the whole school, or female population, should bow down and worship them. She sank down in her seat and began the process of sorting out all of the homework she had dropped outside. 

"I'm sorry about that." 

She looked up. It was Mr. Football himself. Scott Barringer. She'd only had a few classes with him over the course of the past four years, but she knew enough to know that he was just like the rest of them. "Look," she said, continuing to rifle through her papers. "Thanks, but I don't need your help. I can take care of myself." 

"Okay," he said, raising his forearms in a gesture of surrender. 

The bell rang. She gathered her books and papers and shoved past him on her way to the door. He shrugged his shoulders. Shelby Merrick was one girl he knew better than to mess with. He scooped his books off of his desk and strolled into the hallway. 

He smiled and nodded at the people he knew. He had played a great game on Saturday and he knew it. So did everyone else. They worshipped the ground he walked on. He would lead the team to their eighth consecutive state title, its fourth since he had joined the team. 

He spotted Juliette at her locker chatting with her friends while she exchanged books. "Hey," he said, wrapping his arms around her waist. 

She giggled. "Hey, you." 

Her friends giggled as the captain of the football team and the head cheerleader engaged in a very public display of affection. 

"Gross," Daisy Lipenowski said, wrinkling her noise in disgust. 

"What?" asked Shelby, her question muffled by the pencil in her mouth. 

"Mr. Football Hero and his prom queen going at it over there," she said. She stuck her tongue out and made a face. 

Shelby rolled her eyes. "Tell them to go reproduce somewhere else." 

"Ah, but that's Scott and Juliette. They can do whatever they want wherever they want, because for some unknown reason, we have chosen to worship the jocks and their airheads. Our opinions don't matter because we're just the average folk. Our lives are meaningless and revolve around the antics of the lucky few." She pointed across the hallway. "That, my friend, is high school in a nut shell. Which football player had his tongue down the throat of which cheerleader will be, sadly enough, the only thing that anyone remembers about these four years." She finished her tirade, delivered in a sullen monotone, and her face adopted a look of mock regret. "So what's up with you this lovely morning?" she asked with false cheer. 

"I have detention after school today." 

"Again?" 

"Shut up," she sighed. 

After one last kiss, Scott drew away from Juliette. "I'll see you at lunch," he said winking at her. 

She blew him a kiss. "Later." 

He continued his trek down the hall. He arrived at his destination: the guidance office. He opened the door and sat down in one of the cushioned chairs to wait. His appointment wasn't for another ten minutes, and someone else was in Miss Becker's office. He could hear their voices as they drifted out of the partially opened door. 

"She can't go on like this," a woman was saying. "She goes to school, works double shifts, and takes care of her sister. She does everything she can to help out her mom, but I don't think she's given any thought to college or what she's going to do when she graduates." 

"I'm well aware of Shelby's situation," said Miss Becker. "But I had no idea she was spreading herself so thin. Her grades are still perfect." 

"But have you seen her attendance record? I don't know how she does it, but you can see the exhaustion in her eyes." 

"I'll schedule an appointment with her," Miss Becker promised. "Thank you for your concern, Hannah. I'm glad to see someone looking out for Shelby." 

Scott absorbed this new information. It explained a lot. He found he had a whole new respect for the girl that the rest of the school whispered about. For the first time, he began to question if all the rumors circulating about her were true. Either way, she had to be one of the strongest girls on the planet. 

*** 

Shelby walked with her head held high as she passed the table full of jocks and cheerleaders. She hated them more and more each time one of the airheads whispered behind or back or one of the guys tried to grab her butt because they thought she was an easy score. But she endured it, because Shelby Merrick would not give them the satisfaction of being superior. She made it to her table unscathed. She shoved Them, the popular crowd, to the back of her mind. She slipped her headphones over her ears and started cramming for her Spanish quiz instead. 

"Skank," Brett muttered under his breath. He had a clear view of her from his vantage point at the table. 

"That still doesn't stop you from trying to get into her pants every morning, dude," laughed one of his friends. 

Brett shrugged. "A lay is a lay, even when it's a whore like Merrick." 

He was thrown backward as a fist connected solidly with his jaw. He found himself sprawled on the floor, his chair and the remnants of his lunch scattered around him. He jumped to his feet, rubbing his sore jaw, ready to deck whoever had hit him. He was shocked to see Scott staring down at him, a look of controlled rage in his eyes. 

"Son of a...what the hell are you doing?" 

"You'd better watch your mouth," Scott said calmly. 

"Why? Oh, I'm sorry. Maybe you'd like to screw the slut." 

Scott tackled him onto the floor. The whole table erupted into a cacophony of sound. More guys jumped in. Soon, there was a whirlwind of flying fists and flailing limbs rolling around the floor. 

Shelby, her face turned away from the brawl, remained blissfully unaware. She munched on a bag of pretzels. 

The noise in the cafeteria died away as Mr. Scarbrow, the principal, pried the fighting boys away from each other. "My office, now!" 

They shoved at each other one last time, then followed Mr. Scarbrow out of the cafeteria. 

END 

Thanks to Amethyst Crow for the inspiration. You are my patron saint of HG. 


	2. The Breakfast Club, Sort Of

Breaking the Stereotypes

Chapter 2: The Breakfast Club…Sort Of

***

They walked down the hallway together at the end of the school day. Scott easily cradled both of their books with his left arm and slung his right arm around Juliette's waist. 

"This is so unfair," she declared, her brown eyes flashing indignantly. "I don't know why they gave you detention today."

He shrugged. "At least they aren't going to bench me for the game. I was expecting worse."

"Brett is such a jerk. Everyone knows he got what he deserved."

"Too bad Scarbrow didn't see it that way."

They stopped outside of the classroom designated for Scott's detention. "Do you want me to wait around?" she asked.

"Nah," he said. "I'll call you tonight."

She pressed her lips against his cheek briefly. "Have fun."

He rolled his eyes. "I'll try."

***

Auggie looked up from his notebook just in time to see Juliette saying good bye to Scott. He stared after her longingly as she walked away. Juliette Weybourne was one of the prettiest, nicest girls that he knew. True, she was popular, but she never looked down on others because of it. She always wanted to help everyone and always seemed to be so cheerful and happy. Too bad she didn't know he existed. He went back to sketching in his notebook. No use thinking about things he should definitely not be thinking about.

He didn't know why he had even bothered showing up for detention. It didn't matter anyway. His grades were crap, his attendence was crap. The only thing he knew was his art. And he didn't need a high school diploma to paint, no matter what his parents said.

He raised his head briefly as Scott took a seat in the back of the room. What a lucky bastard. He wondered if he knew how lucky he was.

***

Shelby eyed the pretty blonde haired woman in front of her warily. What does she want from me, she wondered silently. "Miss Becker," she finally said, "I'm sorry, but I really have to get to detention now."

Sophie looked up from Shelby's file. "I'll have you there in a few minutes. I just want to talk to you for a second." She looked back down at the file in front of her, then back up at Shelby. "Shelby, your GPA and SAT scores are amazing. Have you started filling out any college applications yet?"

"No, not yet."

"Why not?"

"Because honestly, I don't think I'll be able to go anywhere besides the community college, and they accept everyone anyway." 

"Why do you say that?" she asked, as she leaned back in her chair.

"Money," Shelby stated matter-of-factly. "We don't have it. It's just my mom, my sister, and me. There's no way my mom would ever be able to afford to send me to college."

"What about scholarships, loans, grants?" asked Sophie.

"You know as well as I do that it wouldn't be enough. Believe me, I've looked into this. Say a state school offers me a full ride. That doesn't take into account how much the tuition is raised every year. I'll still have to pay the difference, not to mention books and food and stuff."

"I still think you should start applying to schools. You never know what can happen unless you try. And I'd hate to see someone with your potential slip through the cracks. You've got a bright future ahead of you, Shelby. Give it a chance." 

There was a knock at the door. Juliette poked her head in the door. "I'm sorry," she said. "I didn't know you were with someone. I'll just wait outside."

"No, that's alright. We were just wrapping up," said Sophie. 

Shelby sighed with relief. She looked gratefully at Juliette. "Your turn," she said pleasantly. She gathered her books and tried not to run out of the office.

Juliette plopped down in Shelby's vacated seat. "I need help."

Sophie smiled at her. "With what?"

"I need more extra-curriculars. I need to have more to put on my applications. 'Cheerleader' just sounds so…insufficient."

Sophie took a second to skim her file. "Let's see. Your grades are good, your SAT scores are well above average…what kind of schools are you applying to?"

"I'm not sure yet."

"Okay, well what kind of major are you considering?"

"I don't know!" She threw her hands up in frustration. "I guess that's the problem. I don't know what I want to do or where I want to go. I don't even know what I like to do! I cheerlead because that's what is expected of me. But I don't want to do it anymore, and now I don't know what to do." She banged her forearms on the edge of the desk and buried her head in them. 

Sophie stifled a smile. "Juliette, what you're going through now is completely normal. Most kids who go to college don't know what they want to do. And if they do, most of the time they end up changing their minds a thousand times before they really settle into majors. Don't be so hard on yourself."

"So what should I do?" she asked, lifting her head up.

"I think I have just the thing for you."

***

'Give it a chance,' Shelby mimicked under her breath. She stalked down the hallway, late once again. And to top that off, now she had the guidance counselor breathing down her neck about college. These problems were nothing new to her. The question was, why was Miss Becker suddenly taking an interest in her life? No one had ever cared much or noticed before. 

She rushed into the classroom while the teacher's back was turned. She was only a few minutes late, maybe he hadn't noticed.

"Miss Merrick, so glad you could finally join us," said Mr. Scarbrow.

Shelby stifled a groan. Leave it to her to be late when the freaking principal was the one supervising detention that day. "I'm sorry, I was in Miss Becker's office."

"Okay," he said, letting it slide. He turned to address the rest of the classroom. "Alright, now that we're all here, I thought we'd do something other than stare at the wall for the next hour. We're going to talk instead."

Shelby rolled her eyes as a Latino guy sitting on the opposite side of the room groaned. Then she heard another voice in the back of the room. 

"Are you _kidding_ me?"

Scott Barringer _again_. She cast her eyes up toward the ceiling. God, why do you hate me? she asked silently. 

"Come on guys, this will be painless, I promise."

Mr. Scarbrow walked to the center of the room and arranged three desks so that they were facing each other. He gestured to the desks with a nod of his head. Grumbling silently, Shelby pushed her chair back and sat at one of the desks. The other two did the same.

"Okay, let's start off easy. Let's have everyone say their name and why they're in detention. Shelby?"

Shelby rolled her eyes again. "My name is Shelby Merrick. I was late to school this morning."

"Augosto Ciceros. Been cutting class."

"Scott Barringer. I started a fight in the cafeteria."

A knock at the door interrupted them. Mrs. Bauer's face appeared in the glass. She motioned for Mr. Scarbrow to join her in the hallway. "Okay guys, talk. I'll be right back." 

The three teenagers stared at each other petulantly, no one willing to speak first. Finally, Scott opened his mouth. "Did you draw that?" He pointed to the sketches in Auggie's notebook. 

"Yeah." There was a note of pride in his voice.

"Nice." 

"Thanks."

Awkward silence.

Shelby couldn't contain her curiosity any longer. "Who'd you get in a fight with?"

"Brett Johnson."

A small smile swept over her face. "Good for you. What a creep."

"What was the fight about?" Auggie asked.

Scott looked at Shelby. Her eyebrows were raised, waiting for his answer. "Uh, nothing big," he said quickly. "It's been a long time coming."

"Why isn't he stuck in detention too?" asked Shelby.

Scott grinned despite himself. "He's still at the hospital. I kind of…broke his nose."

Shelby snorted. Soon, the three of them were laughing hysterically.

***

Peter Scarbrow stepped back into the classroom. The three teenagers were talking like old friends. "Sorry guys," he said. "I've got to take care of something. You can all go." He was back out the door before they could respond. 

They stared at each other in surprise. Then there was a flurry of activity as they grabbed their stuff and hurried out of the classroom too. They walked down the hallway and out the main doors together. 

"Nice meeting you, Auggie," Shelby smiled.

He waved to them as he swaggered off, adopting his homeboy persona.

"I guess I'll see you around," Scott said to Shelby.

"Yup, homeroom," she said grinning. Her grin became decidedly evil. "I can't wait to see Brett Johnson's face tomorrow."

Scott snickered. "Later, Merrick."

The only response he got was the sound of her laughter as she headed toward the parking lot. 

"Hey," came a quiet voice behind him.

"Hey," he responded, pulling Juliette into a hug. 

"That was a short detention, considering you sent the star quarterback to the hospital today," she said, shaking her head bemusedly. 

He grinned. "I rock. So what are you still doing around?" 

"I had to talk to Miss Becker about something. Guess what?"

"What?"

"I'm going to start tutoring people after school."

"What about cheerleading?" he asked immediately.

She frowned. "That'll be over soon anyway. I'm excited about this tutoring thing though. I'm looking forward to it."

He smiled at her indulgently. "I just can't see you doing anything besides cheerleading."

"What's that supposed to mean?" She was getting more and more angry with Scott. Her own boyfriend was implying that she was nothing more than a fake, brainless airhead!

He opened his mouth to say something, eyes wide with bewilderment, but she cut him off.

"You know what? Never mind. I don't think I want to hear anything else you have to say today."

Without another word, she angrily shook his arm from her shoulders and stalked away.

He stared after her in amazement. What the hell had just happened?

END

Part 2 


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